Add Garciaparra to my list of doom...: "Boston Red Sox (news) all-star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra (news) will begin the season on the disabled list because of a sore Achilles tendon, the team said on Wednesday.

Garciaparra is expected to miss the first three weeks of the season as he focuses on easing the tendonitis in his right Achilles that has limited him to just eight at bats during spring training games, said the Red Sox Web Site.
The shortstop will fly back from Boston's Fort Myers Spring training site on Thursday to begin his treatment program. "

McCain Feingold Comes Alive! "President Bush's campaign and the Republican National Committee are filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission.
They're accusing John Kerry and pro-Kerry groups of violating campaign-spending laws.
They claim Kerry's campaign has been illegally coordinating political ads and get-out-the-vote activities with independent groups.
Groups like MoveOn-dot-org have been running ads critical of Bush in several battleground states. Kerry has also been running ads in the key states, but on a much smaller scale."

I think this is a warning shot aimed at Theresa Heinz actually.

While I think that the Move-On ads help as much as hurt the Kerry campaign, I think that a truly independent environmental ad from Theresa Heinz would in fact help the Kerry campaign.

In Washington D.C., no one can hear you speed: "The District's newest photo-radar camera in Northeast caught 788 speeding drivers in the first 48 hours of enforcement, generating at least $23,640 in fines, police said yesterday.
The camera on Sunday caught 504 cars speeding in the 600 block of Florida Avenue, where the speed limit is 25 mph. On Monday, it caught 284 cars traveling above the speed limit, police said"

The policius ex machina is right next to Gallaudet University, and coincidentally, on the exact route that I take to the grocery store.

Not surprisingly, I speed on this section of Florida all the time. it is a four lane road where only two are really needed most of the time. it is right near the farmers market so early in morning there is a lot of truck traffic.

I would say the minimum speed I used to drive on the street was around 40 mph. The street just begs for it.

Hopefully this was just a coincidence...: "An explosion and fire rocked a BP oil refinery in Texas, the third-largest in the United States, on Tuesday, driving gasoline prices to an all-time high and unnerving currency markets worried about security threats.
BP (BP.L) said there was no sign of 'any outside influence' in the blast and fire, which came days after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation warned Texas oil refiners of possible terror attacks ahead of elections in November.
The cause of the fire, which began with an explosion in the gasoline-producing unit at the 447,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Texas City, Texas, was not known, but it did not appear to have been started intentionally, BP said.
'We have no indication of any outside influence on the incident,' said company spokeswoman Annie Smith.
BP has been maintaining high security at its Texas refinery after the FBI warning on March 25 of an unsubstantiated threat of an attack."

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Brood X Returns to Roost...: "In a few weeks, probably in early to mid-May, the cicada nymphs will crawl out of the ground, shed their skins and unfurl their wings. The males will out-roar lawn mowers in their search for a mate. The females will lay their eggs in the branches of trees. Then, beginning in mid-June, the adults will all die.
Prepare to welcome Brood X (that's 10), as a federal bureaucrat named this batch of 17-year cicadas. Periodical cicadas last appeared in the Washington area in 1996, when Brood II came topside. That emergence, while sparser overall, affected Virginia more heavily than will X, which will largely sidestep the Old Dominion. "

Monday, March 29, 2004

Mark Prior, this blog's first draft pick in FBL, is out for a month...: "Time and simple mathematics are working against pitcher Mark Prior being ready for the Cubs' first homestand in mid-April.
Prior admitted as much Saturday when yet another bullpen session was put off because of lingering soreness in his right Achilles' tendon.
'It's probably out of the question,' Prior said of the Cubs' original target area of April 12-19 for his regular-season debut. 'We had tentative dates, but I think right now, with where we're at, I don't think we're putting a timetable on it because we don't want to set ourselves up, and something happens like this with a setback, and then we have to re-evaluate."

Let there be life!: "More than 3.5 billion years after nature transformed non-living matter into living things, populating Earth with a cornucopia of animals and plants, scientists say they are finally ready to try their hand at creating life.

If they succeed, humanity will enter a new age of 'living technology,' where harnessing the power of life to spontaneously adapt to complex situations could solve problems that now defy modern engineering."

This is a fascinating article.

"The ability to make new forms of life from scratch--molecular living systems from chemicals we get from a chemical supply store--is going to have a profound impact on society, much of it positive, but some of it potentially negative," said Mark Bedau, professor of philosophy and humanities at Reed College in Portland, Ore., and editor-in-chief of the Artificial Life Journal."

RLUIPA NEWS!!: "U.S. District Judge Royal Ferguson has upheld RLUIPA's constitutionality in Castle Hills First Baptist Church v. City of Castle Hills. "

This is good news for Rluipa. Although not necessarily for the church.

Federal judge grants partial victory to Texas church - (BP):Ferguson, however, denied the church’s request for judgment against the city for its refusal to grant a permit for a parking lot. The city’s denial of the permit for additional parking did not substantially burden the church’s religious rights, he said.

"The court plainly split the baby, and were still deciding what were going to do about that, said Anthony Picarello, general counsel for the Washington-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which presented arguments on the churchs side in the case.

In a victory for attempts to protect religious liberty nationwide, Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of a federal law to protect religious freedom in zoning and prison cases. The city of Castle Hills had argued the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act violated the First Amendment prohibition on government establishment of religion."

Baseball season starts tomorrow and I cannot wait. There is no better time of year than the start of baseball season, even if you are, like me, a Pirate fan. I am currently putting the over/under for runs scored by the Pirates this year at 407. Which would be incompetence on a global scale. (392 is the record low) Of course when you have Raul freakin Mondesi hitting clean-up then you get hwat you pay for.

I long for happier times of Doug Drabek, John Smiley, Bob Walk, Andy Van Slyke, Bonds, Bonilla, Spanky Lavallier and even Sid Bream. Sitting in three rivers stadium, singing "For it's one two three strikes your out if your Jose Lind!" If I ran into Francisco Cabrera right now I might punch him in the throat.

But in these times of sorrow I always think, there will be another day...

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers; it has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Ohhhh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."

Kerry took to quoting the scripture this weekend. "Kerry never mentioned Bush by name during his speech at New North Side Baptist Church, but aimed his criticism at 'our present national leadership.' Kerry cited Scripture in his appeal for the worshippers, including James 2:14, 'What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?'

'The Scriptures say, what does it profit, my brother, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?' Kerry said. 'When we look at what is happening in America today, where are the works of compassion?' "

So let me get this straight:

He is Catholic, but his religious beliefs will not inform his Presidency.

However, he thinks the voters should let their religious beliefs inform their votes.

Unless their religious beliefs invovle abortion, and then they should ignore their religious beliefs and vote for Kerry.

Ok. i just wanted to get that straight. It is so hard to tell where he is coming from sometimes.

Judge Pickering accords himself well on 60 minutes...: "'Mississippi's made tremendous progress. And I feel like I've been a part of that progress. And I'm glad to have been a part of that progress. And I think it's extremely unfortunate any time anyone, black or white, uses race to divide us and polarize us.' "

Bashman thinks that the show portrayed the story fairly evenly. I think it was a great idea to have Mr. Evers on to defend him. Unfortunately, they did not ask Schumer the real reason as to why Judge Pickering was being denied his nomination to the bench.

Sunday, March 28, 2004

1. Utter lack of startup capital. As their website and rollout stations suggests this group started to small too fast. (The website is simply pathetic.) They are, for the most part, simply buying time on these stations,as opposed to licensing the program. then they get to sell the advertising themselves. but it is all a loss leader, which means no new capital for quite some time. Streaming is very expensive and it is unlikely that it will continue for very long if a number of people choose to listen.

2. Howard Stern. Howard is now the flagship anti-Bush broadcaster. I am a huge stern fan and he has done more to stunt the growth of this network than any conservative voice.

I think Franken should do fine. He is just about everything Limbaugh is- pompous, reactionary, funny but liberal. (Oh and apparantly not addicted to drugs). The problem is that there have been two 2 successful ways to launch a radio network (1 statioan at a time like Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, Stern etc.. or licensing with a large established network like clear channel)

It simply stuns me that Viacom which carries Stern throughout the country did not sign on to this, considering they are the lynchpin of the liberal media conglomerates, but now they already have their liberal radio star so maybe they don't wnat anymmore....

I think these shows should stay on up until past the election but then...

There are many fascinating aspects to the opinion but one of the more interesting ones is how Google.com seems to have lowered the bar for undue burden in discovery issues relating to the privacy concerns of plaintiffs and other individuals involved in lawsuits.

Judge Posner states:

"Some of these women will be afraid that when their redacted
records are made a part of the trial record in New York,
persons of their acquaintance, or skillful “Googlers,” sifting the
information contained in the medical records concerning each
patient’s medical and sex history,will put two and two together,
“out” the 45 women, and thereby expose them to
threats, humiliation, and obloquy."

Is this the first time that Google itself has been singled out as a otuside force on the law that changes the math when comparing the burden on an individual's privacy interest? Has technology changed the way these evidentiary issues should be weighed by
Judges and if so, should the Rules Committee look into it?
Should the "skillfull googlers" standard be the standard that Federal Judges apply when bancing privacy concerns?

I don't know right now, but in this dwning information age, I cannot imagine that any possible information releasedmight fall into this category. the "skillfull googlers" level is really quite high a level. Believe me. And as more and more organizations create extra/intranets to handle all of their data the level and type of information available could expand exponentially. (On the other hand, I still can't find out who atrios is despite heavy Googling. then again male substitute gym teachers are not a heavy web presence...) I think Judge Posner erred in this case based on the other safegaurds in place in terms of the handling of the material, which is detailed in the case.

By the way, this is not the first time that evolving technology has change aspects of the law, even as it applies to the dissenting judge, Daniel Manion, in this case. "In the Washington Post, July 30 1986, pg A-23, columnist James J.
Kilpatrick: discussed the nomination and confirmation of Daniel Manion as appellate judge. Manion had been taken to task by some in the Senate as not qualified to be an appellate Judge due to several errors that had been found in briefs that he had filed in court as a private practitioner. Kilpatrick stated:
"In sum, I fear not for the republic, or for the 7th Circuit, when
Manion joins the club. Give him an intelligent clerk and a good word processor, and the gentleman may look forward to many happy years on the bench."

Vatican official has "a problem" with John Kerry: "Just listen to a Vatican official, who is an American: 'People in Rome are becoming more and more aware that there's a problem with John Kerry, and a potential scandal with his apparent profession of his Catholic faith and some of his stances, particularly abortion.' "

The story is that they used a scramjet and they achieved orbital velocity. Here is apicture of the engine designs. "The test, conducted off the southern California coast, marked the first time that a 'scramjet,' or supersonic-combustion ramjet, has powered a vehicle at such high speed. "

The reason it is so cool is that the jet used oxygen available in the atmosphere as an oxidizer for hydrogen fuel. By using oxygen available in the atmosphere, the weights of craft seeking to escape the bonds of earth can be dramatically reduced. Currently the space shuttle is approximately 2/3s oxidizer by weight. All this weight can be eliminated for a ramjet thereby significantly reducing the cost to send things into space.
the shuttle requires acceleration at around Mach 25 to escape earth.

Ramjets operate by using their own velocity to force air into thier "engines". The real problem with all Ramjets is the basic PV=nRT problem of seriously increased temperatures as the pressure of the incoming increases. Former ramjet aircaft, like the Blackbird only achieved Mach 2.5 or so.

The unpiloted X-43A made an 11-second powered flight Saturday and then went through some twists and turns during a six-minute glide before it plunged into the ocean.

"It was fun all the way to Mach 7," said Joel Sitz, project manager at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. "Today we were successful at separating not only the launch vehicle from the research vehicle, but the real from the imagined."

"Flight engineer Lawrence Huebner said preliminary data indicated the X-43A reached a maximum speed of "slightly over Mach 7," or about 5,000 mph. It had been boosted to about 3,500 mph by a rocket, but he said no "air-breathing" jets had ever before reached Mach 7, seven times the speed of sound."

And here is the description of the flight itself...

"The 12-foot, 2,800-pound X-43A was mounted on a Pegasus rocket booster, which was attached under the right wing of a B-52 bomber that took off from Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert.

A minute before 2 p.m., the craft was dropped from 40,000 feet. A few seconds later, the rocket flared, boosting the jet skyward on a streak of flame and light. At about 100,000 feet, the rocket was dropped away.

The scramjet then took over, using up about two pounds of gaseous hydrogen fuel before it glided and then plunged into the Pacific Ocean about 400 miles off the California coast.

The vehicle's performance prompted a round of applause at the Dryden control center."

Only 2 pounds of fuel... too cool.

For more information NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/

Saturday, March 27, 2004

More on Kerry Surgery "Wade said the Massachusetts senator's shoulder didn't bother him when he was skiing and snowboarding last week during an Idaho vacation. Kerry felt pain when he picked up a baby while greeting voters recently, Wade said."

Ok, so the shoulder is not a problem for a long ski weekend, but it hurts him to much to press that aye button when it comes to funding the troops.

Kerry to go in for minor medical procedure...: "Kerry's spokesman David Wade said the Massachusetts senator tore the subscapularis, a muscle beneath the scapula in his right shoulder, when he braced himself during an abrupt stop on his Iowa campaign bus several weeks ago.

After the surgery, Kerry will use a sling for roughly a week, said campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. She said Kerry will return to work Thursday for administrative business and resume a public schedule next Sunday."

This should get him out of even more Senate votes.

Just on an aside. Celebrities sometimes use this gambit for other hidden cosmetic procedures at the same time.

Form the prospectus of the case:
"The government appeals from an order by the district court quashing a subpoena commanding Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago to produce the medical records of certain patients on whom Dr. Cassing Hammond had performed late-term abortions at the hospital using the controversial method known variously as “D & X” (dilation and extraction) and “intact D & E” (dilation and evacuation). We accelerated briefing and argument, and now accelerate our decision, in view of the pressures of time discussed
later in the opinion."

Posner and Williams held for Northwestern, while Judge Manion dissented.

Released on the Atari 2600 in 1982, the crudely rendered, two-dimensional adventure let players control a figure named Pitfall Harry. The object was to swing along vines, avoid being eaten by pixillated crocodiles, vault over rolling logs, and climb stubby ladders to explore caves that looked more like sewer pipe conduits.
Activision has now released the latest game in the franchise -- 'Pitfall: The Lost Expedition' for Xbox (news - web sites), GameCube and PlayStation 2 (news - web sites). What a difference 22 years makes"

As someone who actually completed the first Pitfall game way back in 83, and took the picture, and sent in the picture and got a wicked cool Atari jacket for my trouble, i will be completing this game forthwith.

Yahoo! Jacques Verges Says He Will Defend Saddam: " The French lawyer known for defending Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and guerrilla Carlos the Jackal said Saturday that Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s nephew had chosen him to represent the deposed Iraqi president. "

Initial reports are that he willl "Plan B" the prosecution and put all of the blame on George W. Bush.

His main witnesses will be Al Gore, the New York Times Editorial Board, and Howard Dean.

Two student senators at Western Oregon University are trying to ban student-sponsored blood drives on the school’s campus because they say questions associated with the donor screening process are discriminatory against gays.

They have an issue with the disqualifying question “Are you a male who has had sex with another male since 1977, even once?”

"By continuing to allow the Red Cross on our campus, the university is telling all the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students that we don't care about you,"said Bates."

Unless of course they happen TO NEED BLOOD AT ANY TIME IN THE FUTURE!!!!!

This is especially incredible considering that there is a rise of HIV infection among college males.: "'Twenty years into the... HIV epidemic and we're seeing a re-emergence of HIV in a young male population -- that's disturbing,' Leone said. 'It's our best and brightest who are getting infected -- it will be felt for the next five, 10, 15 years.'
The increase was first noticed in late 2002, and officials now believe it began in mid-2001 and is still continuing. They worry that unwitting infected students will spread the virus across the country when they return to their hometowns during class breaks or after graduation."

Is there anything, anything at all, that trumps minor inequalities for the homosexual community. If the nation's blood supply is o.k. to play politics with then I don't think anything is off limits.

The bonus is that technology may obviate this question, and several others, altogether. There is a new HIV test that gives results in 20 minutes : "The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new oral test to detect the AIDS virus that is highly accurate and gives the results in 20 minutes without using a needle. "

I have given blood many times. But recently I have been prevented from doing so due to a recent trip to India. I will be able to donate again in a couple of months. In the process many questions, some involving Constitutionally protected activity, are asked that can disqualify people for any number of reasons. That process takes over 20 minutes (taking temperature, adn test iron levels etc.) and so a simple HIV test would be fantastic.

But it never ever once crossed my mind that they should shut down the sytem to accomodate those who could not donate.

WAPO Confirms that Clarke May Have Exaggerated in His Testimony: "But Clarke, who was counterterrorism director for both Clinton and Bush, has been much more critical of Bush. In testimony this week, he said al Qaeda and terrorism 'were an extraordinarily high priority' and there was 'certainly no higher a priority' under Clinton. On the other hand, he said, 'the Bush administration in the first eight months considered terrorism an important issue but not an urgent issue.'
In fact, Clarke was constantly agitating for a more aggressive response to terrorism from the Clinton administration, including more significant bombing of al Qaeda and Taliban targets. The commission staff described him as 'controversial' and 'abrasive' and included an observation that several Clinton colleagues wanted him fired.
'He was despised under Clinton,' said Ivo H. Daalder, who worked under Clarke in the Clinton National Security Council on issues other than terrorism. James M. Lindsay, who also worked under Clarke, concurred that people 'thought he was exaggerating the threat' and said he 'always wanted to do more' than higher-ups approved. "

the worst thing about the whole Clarke saga is that people who are critical of government processes and who know how to fix them need to be heard.

If Clarke did not decide that his message had to be "Clinton was great, Bush sucked." And instead was both Presidents underperformed then we may have gotten somewhere.

Shrimp Farming in Indiana..the wave of the future...: "By 2020, the four most popular seafoods "shrimp, salmon, tilapia and catfish " will likely come from the aquaculture industry, Johnson said.
Shrimp farmers such as Don Schumann are part of the reason. Faced with declining profits, Schumann converted his Vero Beach citrus grove to a shrimp farm in 1998. That change came after researchers in the early 1990s found that shrimp can be acclimated from saltwater to fresh water.

Farms for freshwater shrimp and prawns are now run across the country, particularly in warmer Midwestern and Southern states. "

I have actually seen several large prawn farms in Indiana, where former soybean fileds were convereted into large prawn beds.

It is pretty interesting.

I wonder if there is a significant taste difference like there is in farm raised vs. wild salmon.

Friday, March 26, 2004

Daschle says screw the Constitution! I am in charge! : "Senate Democrats on Friday threatened to stop all of President Bush's judicial nominees until the White House agrees not to appoint any more judges while Congress is out of town.
Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said Democrats had decided to block all judicial nominees on the Senate floor until ``the White House gives us the assurance that they will no longer abuse the process.''"

Yeah that's a real good plan.

Forget your Constitutional mandate Daschle to advise and consent.

hey why we are it, let's forget the whole of Article 2.

It is just so much pablum anyway.

If he does that then the Republicans will have no choice but to go nuclear and change the rules for nominees to allow only a majority vote for confirmation.

Then all of the Bush appointeees will be nominated.

This is an extreme sign of weakness.

If he really believed that Kerry will win then this is completely unecessary as the recess appointed Judges will simply fade into the sunset.

i think this has not a little to do with a certain Seventh Circuit female nominee that the Democrats do not want to fillibuster.

But I thought it was Bush himself who did this?!?!: "We'd like to know how Clarke squares his contention that he was the only one in the Bush administration truly committed to thwarting terrorism before the Sept. 11 attacks with this: It was Clarke who personally authorized the evacuation by private plane of dozens of Saudi citizens, including many members of Osama bin Laden's own family, in the days immediately following Sept. 11. "

"Carter said he had advice for independent candidate Ralph Nader, who polls show is pulling votes from Kerry and giving Bush an edge.
'Don't risk costing the Democrats the White House this year as you did four years ago,' Carter said. 'I hope everyone here tonight will do your best to make sure Ralph Nader gets zero votes this year.' "

Wow.

Man do these guys hate Nader. Winnning is the only thing that is important to these guys, and that might come back to haunt them.

Thursday, March 25, 2004

The NEw York Times has a nice recount of some of the arguments from the court yesterday.

Here are some of the more telling questions. Let's play guess the Justice!

1. "Do you think that the pledge has the same meaning today as when it was enacted - when the words, under God, were inserted into the prayer, into the pledge? "

A sort of "living pledge" analysis. A real "so where's your God now Moses?" question. Has to be Justice Stevens. I would have answered "Obviously not Justice Stevens, God died the day you were confirmed to the Court."

2. "Well, why not have it like oath or affirmation? That is, give people a choice, don't say it's got to be all one way or all the other, but say children who want to say under God can say it and children who don't, don't have to say it. "

Mmmm. That's an interesting question. It is at the same completely uninformed and at the same time searching for a fake way to protect "the children" over other considerations.

Must be Justice Ginsburg.

It must be nice to be a Supreme Court Justice and not feel the need to read any of the briefs.

3. "So do you think God is so generic in this context that it could be that inclusive? ... And if it is, then does your objection disappear? "

Ah, searching for a middle ground that does not exist. I wonder if you can get a generic God at Walmart and if so, would it have been made in China. A white can on the shelf with just the word God(tm) on it.

That must be Breyer. Who knows where he is coming from in these cases.

4. "What do you make of the argument that in actual practice the affirmation in the midst of this civic exercise as a religious affirmation is so tepid, so diluted then so far, let's say, from a compulsory prayer that in fact it should be, in effect, beneath the constitutional radar."

Ahhh the practical argument. Civic exercises and logical discussions. Definitely Souter territory. The souless moderation on the Court. I do like the guy though. Frustratingly smart and entertaining to watch.

5"So it's not perfect, it's not perfect, but it serves a purpose of unification at the price of offending a small number of people like you. So tell me from ground one why -- why the country cannot do that? "

Ahh, the ultimate softball question. A question that on its face appears Conservative but is ultimately very liberal. Must be Breyer! Breyer is with Newdow on this case and this question shows it.

Newdow completely screwed up this answer by the way. He should have referenced the plethora of cases where it is the Constitution that prevents a majority from pushing it's views on the minority.

Read the whole thing.

I think Newdow looks to have done fairly well.

I just hope that they don't go Spielburg on the Declaration and Gettysburg address and remove all references to God in those.

Too early for the Clarke effect...: "The latest Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll shows Senator John F. Kerry at 47%, President George W. Bush at 44%, and 'some other candidate' at 4%."

I think this is more likely a response to gas prices. OPEC has sort of announced a pro-Kerry position and it does not shock me at this point that they have decided not to increase production.

Higher gas prices are a massive drain on the economy. Eventhough we will two consecutive quarters with growth rates above 4%, that type of growth is needed if inflationary pressures of higher gas costs.

What is really disgusting is when Ted Kennedy chides Bush for the prices.: " Mr. Kennedy and other committee Democrats said they were outraged that the administration is not doing everything in its power to alleviate the strain on drivers, consumers and businesses."

Great Ted. Of course you want to impose a gasoline tax which would have the exact same effect. Nice.

Both parties have their own starve the beast proposals. Teh Republicans want to starve the government beast (purportedly) to reduce the size of the government and the Democrats want to starve the gasoline beast so that we will all return to riding horses. Or something like that.

Speaking of Ted Kennedy, I caught about 5 to 10 minutes of yet another special on the Kennedy's the other night. The special was focused on the next generation of Kennedy kids and their various successes and drug and alcohol relateed failures.

Two greatest moments in the special:

For no reason whatsoever they included a segment on Chappequiddick. The special had nothing to do with Ted but they included it anyway. Nice. Mary Jo Kopeckne, God Bless Her Soul, should be on currency.

When the interviewer mentioned to Bobby Jr, or Teddy Jr or one of em that the most successful thrid generation Kennedy was Arnold Schwarzenegger, ("Ha ha!") the Kennedy said, "Well we shall see if he can get his policies enacted." What a jerk. Nice brotherly love there buddy.

By the way if any network exec's happen to stumble across this lowly blog I would just like to add:

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

CBC Bomb found buried under train tracks near Paris: "Bomb experts neutralized an explosive device found half-buried under a train line east of Paris Wednesday.
The bomb was found buried underneath train tracks in the village of Montieramey, on a railway line heading from Paris to Basel, Switzerland. "

The bomb does not appear to be islamo-fascist terrorism related but instead some sort of blackmail scheme.

International News Article | Reuters.com: "About 1,000 Taiwan protesters contesting President Chen Shui-bian's election victory after a mysterious assassination bid and the discovery of many spoiled ballots vowed Monday to stay at his palace until a recount.
The protesters, facing ranks of helmeted police in full riot gear lined up in front of the presidential palace, showed no signs of dispersing, ignoring a police deadline that expired late Sunday as well as government appeals to leave. "

Boston.com / News / World / Conservative Takes Early Lead In Salvador Election: "Amid fears of mob violence and fraud, millions of Salvadorans turned out to vote yesterday in the hardest fought presidential elections since the end of the country's gruesome, 12-year civil war.
The contest, which pitted a former leftist guerrilla commander, 73-year-old Schafik Handal, against a sportscaster turned businessman, Elias Tony Saca, 39, showed the degree to which El Salvador remains polarized 12 years after the signing of the peace accords.
At 7:15 last night, with only 10 percent of the votes counted, Saca was leading with 57 percent, and Handal had 35 percent. Minutes later Saca declared victory, but Handal party officials were so far refusing to comment."

French Voters in Provinces Turn Sour on Chirac: " the first nationwide election since conservatives swept to power here two years ago, French voters on Sunday expressed dissatisfaction with President Jacques Chirac's center-right government by showing strong support for the opposition Socialist Party and endorsing the far rightist National Front as a vocal minority party."

International News Article | Reuters.com: "Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was due to be sworn in for a new term on Monday with recounts in several constituencies determining whether he had made a clean sweep of the Islamist opposition.
Abdullahs' multi-ethnic coalition extended its two-thirds control of the national parliament that allows it to pass laws uncontested, taking about 90 percent of seats, and won at least 12 of Malaysia's 13 states in an unexpectedly strong showing. "

The most feel good news of the year! Is the most depressing sentence uttered in about a decade for Braves fans: "He rattled them off in mere seconds: Ortiz, Hampton, Horacio Ramirez, John Thomson, Paul Byrd when he gets healthy and, tentatively, Jaret Wright in the current lead for the No. 5 spot over Bubba Nelson and Andy Pratt. Way to go, Tom."

What does that mean, and why is it emotioanally charged? Why that is the starting rotation for the vaunted Braves. Ortiz and Hampton are workmanlike but realy #3's, and Hampton could be really really bad. Thompson has upside maybe. Byrd is a junkballer if he even plays this year and Wright has issues.

Friday, March 19, 2004

Hobie, the cat on the Hill, helped pick numbers for the Fantasy Baseball League today. It was quite a detailed process. First each league member had a designated starting position based on the time they joined the league. Then 9 numbers were cut and shuffled in a completely random manner and placed face down on a flat surface, in a straight line but otherwise completely random fashion.

Then the cat came in.

It was the cats job to select the first number drawn, which would go to the first player who joined the leage. Each number to the right of that number would follow.

He is not in fact foreign as I stated before. I was confused by this post
Eschaton: "You know what, I'm banned by the New York Times too! They STILL refuse to publish my piece on the dangers that British ex-pats pose to our national security..."

Where I thought he was being self referential. Instead he was talking about Andrew Sullivan. To whom he is very mean by the way.

He is most likely from the UniTed Staes but he travelled overseas alot as a youth. Considering theses two posts.
Eschaton: "My wife grew up in a country where they care about such things, so I've been following the whole thing a little bit (including staying up very late one night to watch a match)."

Eschaton: "I really can't believe this stuff. A judge has ordered a father not to speak to his child in Spanish.

..you know, I know the instant response of many Republicans will be 'good. the child should learn English.' As someone who has spent a bit of time being an ex-pat, and witnessing the massive American expat communities in other countries who send their kids to American schools, and never bother to learn the local language despite spending decades there..."

So we have a thirty something college type professor with a wife with an Asian name who is foreign living in Philadelphia who travelled around alot as a child and has at least one graduate degree.

" A LandCruiser at high speed bursting out of a tribal compound in Pakistan's South Waziristan region was just the latest infuriating setback in the US's quest to bring down the top of the al-Qa'ida tree.
The car, followed by two armoured vehicles and a phalanx of heavily armed militants able to wipe out dozens of crack troops sent to blast the terrorists from their nest, is believed to have contained Ayman al-Zawahiri, right-hand man to Osama bin Laden."

This seems unworkable at best, and svery crazy at worst.The Ninth Circuit has held that "protesters also have a right to demonstrate where their voices can be heard." In finding that free speech zones must be a close as feasible, the Ninth Circuit may have altered the landscape of the conventions this fall.

Both the Democratic Convention and the Republican Convention had designed speech zones away from the actual convention itself. The Republican Zone was within sight of the Arena while the Democratic Zone was significantly farther off.

Neither of the conventions are occurring within the Ninth Circuit, but because the suit was against the Secret Service, which will be performing the same duty in the fall, it seems that the decision should be easily estopped into force.

By the way if you want to see the uphill battle the FCC Faces in its prosecution

Eschaton has posted a transcript of the Oprah Winfrey show from yeasterday where she states almost verbatim the exact same thing that Howard Stern got fined today for three years ago.

It is uncanny how close the two statements are.

Howard tried to replay the Oprah show today but his censors refused to play her comments. Which is incredible.

The FCC has enough on its plate in fighting the media deregulation issue with congress and dealing with the cell phone frequencies that it should really just drop all of this indecency mularkey.

Otherwise they should go after Oprah. And, I think the Meat Industry learned that when choice 1 is going after Oprah and Choice 2 is anything else, Choice 2 is always the correct answer.

You don't want to rile Oprah up or millions of housewives are going to be denying their husbands, umm, their marital rights so to speak, and from the sounds of the Oprah show those rights are legion, for weeks and months. Keep Oprah happy is really job 1.

I love these old Bartcop Forum Posts... This one from, March of 2002 is wierdly prescient: "Kerry/Edwards in 2004 with Carville running the campaign and Big Dog out there campaining for them as well is the best way to send Smirk packing with his bong and Game Boy in 2004."

Stern Gets His Fine..: "In another decision Thursday, the FCC proposed fining Infinity Broadcasting the maximum $27,500 for a Stern show broadcast July 26, 2001, on WKRK-FM in Detroit. The FCC received a complaint from a Detroit listener about a show that featured discussions about sexual practices and techniques. "

This is quite odd, considering that the same broadcast is sent all over the country, but it makes some sense. Broadcasts are usually gauged by "community standards." In this case the community standard was based on the City of Detroit, where the complaint came through. Which is why Stern did not recieve a much larger fine for all of the stations.

The show recaps are keep by MarksFriggin.com. Ironically, on the offending day, "Howard said that he has won the ''Syndicated Personality of the Year'' award from Radio and Record for the 10th time in a row. He didn't even realize it's been that many times. "

And, guess what, I actually remember listening that day. Not because of the offending material but instead due to the several of the outrageous stories discussed by Artie Lange on his show MAD TV.

Marksfriggin.com has a fairly descriptive discussion of the offending material. I will not relate it here but it invovled the graphic defining of several terms that they had been using on the show, including: a Blumpkin a Balloon knot an Angry Dragon.

He actually declined to define several other terms as he felt that would have been too naughty for radio.

I think this move was fairly lenient by the FCC and this may be the end of it. As you may know, Federal law bars radio stations and over-the-air television channels from airing obscene references to sexual and excretory functions between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children may be tuning in. The rules do not apply to cable and satellite channels or satellite radio.

"So here's what I can tell you about Atrios. He's a college-educated white man of average height and build. He looks about 30, maybe 35. He lives in Center City Philadelphia with his wife (no kids), and he works in the suburbs. Atrios describes his parents as "idiosyncratic socialists," and smiles. None of this is really surprising, given the smart chunklets of anti-GOP rhetoric that Atrios uploads to his site several times a day.

This is from his blog posts:

His wife has an asian sounding, but not Chinese, name.

He is an immigrant or at least fairly new to this country, possibly British. He has been: "to Cuba and legally."

He is a working professor or teacher as he refers to having to go teach a class.

He used to work in Orange County and now works in Philadelphia. He moved on Monday July 15th.

He attended graduate school at a school known for its Political Correctness tendencies.

In '96 he went to a campaign rally for the Bill Clinton.

On April 27, 2002 he played both guest and host of James Carville, to whom he referred to as the Rajun Cajun. I think he was going to Juliefest 2002 to meet Julie Hiatt Steele, the woman who killed the Kathleen Wiley story with her affadavit, and was later similarly moved upon for her tale. There is a donation entitled "mystery $ 35 from Atrios via Pancho " that seems to be his. And $35.00 would certainly indicate a teacher's pay. You could probably buy this video of the event to see him.

If you watch that video it is entirely possible you will see him drinking martini's and spilling them on himself.

He : "Went to the Dean Meetup in Philadelphia" in March of 2003. He states that is "Was a good turnout with some good energetic folks. Don't know if Dean's 'my guy' - whoever I decide can win will be that. But, Dean's in the running and I think he definitely has a decent chance."

He dislikes Libertarians. He states:
"I've always suspected that Ayn Rand devotees were largely people who were basically losers and blamed the fact that society failed to appreciate their genius because society was messed up...
If only we had a true meritocracy, then people who love and respect me..
or something like that."

He honed his teeth on the Bartcop Forum. It is unclear when he started posting but around March 2001 he bagan posting in earnest.

One of his first posts in that "time period was:: "The problem with these types of stories is that the conservatives are likely to respond that 'well, Chelsea was probably a drunken slut too but the media respected *her* privacy'.

The real issue of this story is not that a Bush daughter may be a drunken slut (good for her if she is), but that my tax dollars are being used to drive her friends home.

I pity her S.S. agents..."

He likes Yes. And purchased Magnification from amazon.co.uk just before the September 11th attacks.

But who is this mystery man, living in an apartment in Central Philly with two cats, commuting to work every morning?

"'The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.'"

And this:

""For well over half a century we have fought over Palestine. What have we achieved? Nothing. We are worst off than before. If we had paused to think, then we could have devised a plan, a strategy that can win us final victory."

A 'final solution'? That sounds bad for Jewish people around the world. Could a Kerry presidency be a part of that?

Well how about this statement by Dr. Malathir:

"It cannot be that there is no other way. 1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews. There must be a way. And we can only find a way if we stop to think, to assess our weaknesses and our strength, to plan, to strategise and then to counter attack."

Mmm what way could that be? Through the power of ideas? Noooo.

"We are enjoined by our religion to prepare for the defence of the ummah. Unfortunately we stress not defence but the weapons of the time of the Prophet. Those weapons and horses cannot help to defend us any more. We need guns and rockets, bombs and warplanes, tanks and warships for our defence."

Great. That sounds nice and peaceful. Oh and in case you were curious as to the Arabic translation of the word Jew, it is enemy.

"The enemy will probably welcome these proposals and we will conclude that the promoters are working for the enemy. But think. We are up against a people who think. They survived 2000 years of pogroms not by hitting back, but by thinking. They invented and successfully promoted Socialism, Communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so they may enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have now gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power. We cannot fight them through brawn alone. We must use our brains also. "

To the ocean and beyond indeed.

Well now Kerry has the endorsement of a North Korean Dictator and a Muslim extremist. That is quite some campaign he is running.

Justice Scalia has smartly refused to recuse himself in this present term, for vaious reasons. Here are the highlights:

"The only possibility is that it would suggest I am a friend of his. But while friendship is a ground for recusal of a Justice where the personal fortune or the personal freedom of the friend is at issue, it has traditionally not been a ground for recusal where official action is at issue, no matter how important the official action was to the ambitions or the reputation of the Government officer."

That is, this action will not break the legs nor the bank of Cheney, no matter what the outcome. why is that? Because the suit is against the office of the Vice President, not Cheney in his own stead. Scalia explains:

"That an officer is named has traditionally made no difference to the proposition that friend-ship is not considered to affect impartiality in official-action suits. Regardless of whom they name, such suits, when the officer is the plaintiff, seek relief not for him personally but for the Government; and, when the officer is the defendant, seek relief not against him personally, but against the Government. That is why federal law provides for automatic substitution of the new officer when the originally named officer has been replaced. See Fed-eral Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d)(1); Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c)(2); this Court’s Rule 35.3."

And:

"Nothing this Court says on those subjects will have any bearing upon the reputation and integrity of Richard Cheney. Moreover, even if this Court affirms the decision below and allows discovery to proceed in the District Court, the issue that would ultimately present itself still would have no bearing upon the reputa-tion and integrity of Richard Cheney."

And finally, Scalia mayhaps says too much:

"To be sure, there could be political consequences from disclosure of the fact (if it be so) that the Vice President favored business interests, and especially a sector of business with which he was formerly connected. But political consequences are not my concern, and the possibility of them does not convert an official suit into a private one. That possibility exists to a greater or lesser degree in virtually all suits involving agency action."

Which immediately brings to mind Bush v. Gore. Scalia has already said that he and Cheney have been friends since the mid 1970's. So clearly he was friends with him 200 when he ruled in a case that gave him the Vice Presidency. I think that at this point he is addressing those who impugned his integrity in that case.

He continues:

"To expect judges to take account of political consequences—and to assess the high or low degree of them—is to ask judges to do precisely what they should not do. It seems to me quite wrong (and quite impossible) to make recusal depend upon what degree of political damage a particular case can be expected to inflict."

In other words, if I didn't recuse myself in Bush v. Gore, then there is no way I am recusing myself here.

And then this is the best part:

"The question, simply put, is whether someone who thought I could decide this case impartially despite my friendship with the Vice President would reasonably believe that I cannot decide it impartially because I went hunting with that friend and accepted an invitation to fly there with him on a Government plane. If it is reasonable to think that a Supreme Court Justice can be bought so cheap, the Nation is in deeper trouble than I had imagined."

As Scalia poitns out, recusal is a serious business, not to be taken lightly and by responding in this manner he has has shown that fact in spades.

The first hint was that she spelled Nietzsche correctly. the second was that she used the name at all in the phrase "Nietzsche direct us to kill the Jews".It turns out the that the main suspect in a anti-semitic vandalism case at the Claremont Colleges is the professor herself.

"Kerri F. Dunn's car was vandalized and covered with racist, anti-Semitic and sexist epithets on March 9, leading faculty to cancel classes and students to stage rallies the following day."

Oops, as it happens, "two witnesses interviewed by police investigators allegedly saw Dunn, a visiting professor of psychology at Claremont McKenna College, commit the vandalism, police said in a statement. " Maybe she is just a self hating Jew. Although with a name like Kerri Dunn, I am not so sure.

Or maybe this was just an experiment in reverse pschology. I wasted an entire semster at school when I enrolled in both psychology and reverse psychology. I got an A in both classes but learned nothing in the sum total.

Toomey drawing closer: "In a survey of 399 across the state who say they are certain to vote, 47 percent said if the primary were held now, they'd vote for Senator Specter and 38 percent for Congressman Toomey. Fifteen percent are undecided. "

This will be a difficult test no matter who wins the primary. If Specter is not re-elected and the Republicans keep the Senate, I think Kyl would take over for Hatch as Senate Judiciary Chairman. (Assuming Grassley stays on at Finance) But I need to check on that.

CNN has confirmed that among the 200 extrememly well trained, well equipped and fortified fighters in the SW Pakistan area is Ayman Al-Zawahiri. It is the dead of night there now. And they are doing their best to prevent an escape as opposed to getting him now.

Microsoft still refusing to unbundle. "The European Commission claims it is striking a blow on behalf of consumers by forcing Microsoft to unbundle its media player from its Windows software. But Microsoft has blamed a concerted effort by rivals to undermine a product package that it says consumers like."

Microsoft is so stupid. All they would have to do is include a link in their installation package of an audio or video file that would ask users if they would like to use WinMedia to play it.

Most would and that would take care of many many users.

Next they would include it as a feature in all msn subscribers.

Next they could invite users to install WinMed with all Windows Software Upgrades.

This would fill the market quite nicely and for much cheaper than all this litigation.

i don't know why they are so obstinate over this one software package. There are so many different types of media files out there, and there always will be, you those creative types, that they should aim at staying with the game at this point instead of trying to buy the game.

Let's see if they get him. Dean makes the incredible claim that Bush himself let Bin Laden free at Tora Bora. Of course he will say anything. It is unclear now if any U.S. Special Forces are invovled, no word on that anyway. But the first direct attack by Pakistani Troops was rebuffed, and it is possible that U.S. special Forces joined the batle. There is a 25 million reward on the head of the leader of Egyptian Fundamentalist Jihad.

One note, several news sources have reported that their network reporters are going to be going to the border area in SW Pakistan. Brave guys. Crazy guys, but brave guys.

Drop Chavez a few Spots... "Three-time Gold Glove winner Eric Chavez (news) has signed a six-year contract extension with the Oakland Athletics (news), the major league team said on Thursday. Media reports said the deal is worth $66 million, a record for the A's franchise."

This is bad news because Chavez, 26, would have been in the final year of a four-year contract this season, and would have become a free agent if Oakland had not secured his future. Which translates to career year.

Now, he has a cush ride and no need to try.

With Pujols and Arod at 3rd base, he was 3rd best at most anyway. Now I might consider Rolen before him.

"Pakistani troops and paramilitary forces using artillery and helicopter gunships launched a new assault today against al-Qaida and Taliban suspects in a tribal region near Afghanistan, two days after a fierce assault that left dozens dead.
In a report from Islamabad, CNN said Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf told them Pakistani forces had surrounded a 'high-value target' that was being protected by al-Qaida fighters. CNN said the identity of the target was not known. "

This is simply by deduction considering the level of defense brought to bear by the resistance fighters. "Some 39 people -- including 15 troops and 26 militants, died in the raid on Tuesday, the military said today in a statement. Eighteen other suspects were captured. "

"Actor George Clooney purchased the stunning 18th century mansion located in the Italian village of Laglio [50 miles north of Milan] from Kerry and his wife for $7,800,000. Clooney first learned about the listing from Brad Pitt, who had been holidaying with his wife Jennifer Aniston at Versace's compound nearby."

So what or who's house is the subject of this tale of decrepit Hollywood incestuous excess?

Why its Jean le Kerry! he and his wife sold this house on the eve of Kerry's election run.

" Moore would not say whether he would formally endorse Sen. John Kerry, of Massachusetts, who has wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination, and why Moore will keep his own re-election campaign distanced from Kerry's efforts in Kansas."

I hope all of your pools are filled out. I am in 3 for no money because I flat out am the worst sports bettor in the history of the world. I am a mush. I will kill your action. Also I think gambling is an inherently destructive and addicting activity that serves no social good other than to put money in the pockets of organized crime and stumbling beuraucrats. Go out and buy a set of paints and a few canvases instead.

Unfortunately it is true. Man are the Dodgers bad this year.
One thing he forgets though in his comparison with the Clippers.

As to point "# 2) You find yourself celebrating distractions and ignoring the important:

Nothing was more revealing of the Clippers' perpetual defeatist mentality than how they are and were marketed"

he neglects to mention the huslteboard. Nothing was more indicative of the Clippers failure at the L.A. Sports Arena than the installation of the Hustle Board. After watching themselves fail night after night to manage to outscore the opponents on the "score board" the management installed and prominently displayed an equally sized "hustle Board" that would total an odd assortment of different statistical categories that somehow equated to hustle, but in no way impacted the actual score.

In the Clippers defense they did actually win on the "Hustle board" fairly often. And because of that you could leave the sports Arena, always quickly and without making eye contact with anyone on the street of course, with a little less depression than you would otherwise have felt.

Now the Clippers never Hustle Boarded their way to a playoff berth mind you but they did hustle their way into my heart. Well maybe not my heart, but at least my spleen before I had it surgically removed.

Interesting story from Reuters: "BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier was killed and seven were wounded in a mortar attack at a logistics base north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the U.S. Army said Thursday.

Four of the injured soldiers were returned to duty within hours after the attack in Balad, about 45 miles north of Baghdad, the Army said in a statement. The other three wounded soldiers were evacuated to a combat support hospital.
The death brings to 390 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action since the start of the U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites) almost a year ago. "

And this story "Eighty-one U.S. soldiers have been killed in attacks since President Bush (news - web sites) declared major combat in Iraq over on May 1 following the war that ousted Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), according to official U.S. figures"

Which both use the nonsensical date of "major combat operations" as a marker.

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

You might want to consider Curt in the first round...: "Curt Schilling is ready to start the season right now.
He allowed one run on two hits in six innings and the Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 3-1 Wednesday. The right-hander was on a 75-pitch limit and threw 74.
The season doesn't begin for more than two weeks, but Schilling said he would be ready if it opened with his next start."

Traditional leagues don't take pitching in the first round, but in points leagues its a tad different.

Schilling should lead all MLB players in points next year, so think about him in the first 5 picks with Arod, Pujols and Nomar.

"....Now, I believe the facts that have brought us to this fateful vote are not in doubt. Saddam Hussein is a tyrant who has tortured and killed his own people, even his own family members, to maintain his iron grip on power. He used chemical weapons on Iraqi Kurds and on Iranians, killing over 20 thousand people. Unfortunately, during the 1980's, while he engaged in such horrific activity, he enjoyed the support of the American government, because he had oil and was seen as a counterweight to the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran.
In 1991, Saddam Hussein invaded and occupied Kuwait, losing the support of the United States. The first President Bush assembled a global coalition, including many Arab states, and threw Saddam out after forty-three days of bombing and a hundred hours of ground operations. The U.S.-led coalition then withdrew, leaving the Kurds and the Shiites, who had risen against Saddam Hussein at our urging, to Saddam's revenge.
As a condition for ending the conflict, the United Nations imposed a number of requirements on Iraq, among them disarmament of all weapons of mass destruction, stocks used to make such weapons, and laboratories necessary to do the work. Saddam Hussein agreed, and an inspection system was set up to ensure compliance. And though he repeatedly lied, delayed, and obstructed the inspections work, the inspectors found and destroyed far more weapons of mass destruction capability than were destroyed in the Gulf War, including thousands of chemical weapons, large volumes of chemical and biological stocks, a number of missiles and warheads, a major lab equipped to produce anthrax and other bio-weapons, as well as substantial nuclear facilities.

In 1998, Saddam Hussein pressured the United Nations to lift the sanctions by threatening to stop all cooperation with the inspectors. In an attempt to resolve the situation, the UN, unwisely in my view, agreed to put limits on inspections of designated "sovereign sites" including the so-called presidential palaces, which in reality were huge compounds well suited to hold weapons labs, stocks, and records which Saddam Hussein was required by UN resolution to turn over. When Saddam blocked the inspection process, the inspectors left. As a result, President Clinton, with the British and others, ordered an intensive four-day air assault, Operation Desert Fox, on known and suspected weapons of mass destruction sites and other military targets.

In 1998, the United States also changed its underlying policy toward Iraq from containment to regime change and began to examine options to effect such a change, including support for Iraqi opposition leaders within the country and abroad.

In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001.

It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security.

Now this much is undisputed. The open questions are: what should we do about it? How, when, and with whom?

Some people favor attacking Saddam Hussein now, with any allies we can muster, in the belief that one more round of weapons inspections would not produce the required disarmament, and that deposing Saddam would be a positive good for the Iraqi people and would create the possibility of a secular democratic state in the Middle East, one which could perhaps move the entire region toward democratic reform.

This view has appeal to some, because it would assure disarmament; because it would right old wrongs after our abandonment of the Shiites and Kurds in 1991, and our support for Saddam Hussein in the 1980's when he was using chemical weapons and terrorizing his people; and because it would give the Iraqi people a chance to build a future in freedom.

However, this course is fraught with danger. We and our NATO allies did not depose Mr. Milosevic, who was responsible for more than a quarter of a million people being killed in the 1990s. Instead, by stopping his aggression in Bosnia and Kosovo, and keeping on the tough sanctions, we created the conditions in which his own people threw him out and led to his being in the dock being tried for war crimes as we speak.

If we were to attack Iraq now, alone or with few allies, it would set a precedent that could come back to haunt us. In recent days, Russia has talked of an invasion of Georgia to attack Chechen rebels. India has mentioned the possibility of a pre-emptive strike on Pakistan. And what if China were to perceive a threat from Taiwan?

So Mr. President, for all its appeal, a unilateral attack, while it cannot be ruled out, on the present facts is not a good option.

Others argue that we should work through the United Nations and should only resort to force if and when the United Nations Security Council approves it. This too has great appeal for different reasons. The UN deserves our support. Whenever possible we should work through it and strengthen it, for it enables the world to share the risks and burdens of global security and when it acts, it confers a legitimacy that increases the likelihood of long-term success. The UN can help lead the world into a new era of global cooperation and the United States should support that goal.

But there are problems with this approach as well. The United Nations is an organization that is still growing and maturing. It often lacks the cohesion to enforce its own mandates. And when Security Council members use the veto, on occasion, for reasons of narrow-minded interests, it cannot act. In Kosovo, the Russians did not approve NATO military action because of political, ethnic, and religious ties to the Serbs. The United States therefore could not obtain a Security Council resolution in favor of the action necessary to stop the dislocation and ethnic cleansing of more than a million Kosovar Albanians. However, most of the world was with us because there was a genuine emergency with thousands dead and a million driven from their homes. As soon as the American-led conflict was over, Russia joined the peacekeeping effort that is still underway.

In the case of Iraq, recent comments indicate that one or two Security Council members might never approve force against Saddam Hussein until he has actually used chemical, biological, or God forbid, nuclear weapons.

So, Mr. President, the question is how do we do our best to both defuse the real threat that Saddam Hussein poses to his people, to the region, including Israel, to the United States, to the world, and at the same time, work to maximize our international support and strengthen the United Nations?

While there is no perfect approach to this thorny dilemma, and while people of good faith and high intelligence can reach diametrically opposed conclusions, I believe the best course is to go to the UN for a strong resolution that scraps the 1998 restrictions on inspections and calls for complete, unlimited inspections with cooperation expected and demanded from Iraq. I know that the Administration wants more, including an explicit authorization to use force, but we may not be able to secure that now, perhaps even later. But if we get a clear requirement for unfettered inspections, I believe the authority to use force to enforce that mandate is inherent in the original 1991 UN resolution, as President Clinton recognized when he launched Operation Desert Fox in 1998.

If we get the resolution that President Bush seeks, and if Saddam complies, disarmament can proceed and the threat can be eliminated. Regime change will, of course, take longer but we must still work for it, nurturing all reasonable forces of opposition.

If we get the resolution and Saddam does not comply, then we can attack him with far more support and legitimacy than we would have otherwise.

If we try and fail to get a resolution that simply, but forcefully, calls for Saddam's compliance with unlimited inspections, those who oppose even that will be in an indefensible position. And, we will still have more support and legitimacy than if we insist now on a resolution that includes authorizing military action and other requirements giving some nations superficially legitimate reasons to oppose any Security Council action. They will say we never wanted a resolution at all and that we only support the United Nations when it does exactly what we want.